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Thomson Reuters forex spot trading falls to 18 month low

Average daily volumes in the global foreign exchange market dropped by almost 14 per cent in July as traders took their summer breaks and volatility approached historic lows.

Volumes were the same as last July when volatility was twice its current levels, data from FX settlement system CLS showed.

As interest rates stay low globally, crimping arbitrage between even the most liquid currencies, traders have little incentive to take positions, Reuters reported.

Daily currency trading volumes on Thomson Reuters fell 11 per cent month-on-month.

The value of all transactions through the CLS system, which is used almost universally by the banking industry to process or settle trades, dropped to $4.71 trillion in July.

CLS noted that volumes from April to June rose 14 per cent.

A survey by the Bank of England in July showed daily currency trading in London, the world's largest foreign exchange centre, rose seven per cent in the six months to April.

Spot trading on Thomson Reuters platforms - which include Thomson Reuters Matching and FXall - fell to $99 billion, its lowest in at least 18 months. But overall, volumes were up eight per cent on the year at $344 billion.

Volumes at rival platform EBS fell by eight per cent from a month ago to $70.6 billion, leaving them 21 per cent below where they were a year ago.

Andrew Durrant, a former senior sales manager at EBS, has joined Thomson Reuters as trading behaviour and rules proposition manager. ■

SOURCE
Reuters